Nerdfighter Like
by sheonlyreadsbooks
Summary: Blaine's a Nerdfighter in a bookstore and is writing Nerdfighter notes in John Green's books when a new employee, Kurt, catches him doing so.
1. Chapter 1

"Cooper. Anderson. If I have to watch you try on another 'audition outfit', I'm going to go insane." Blaine whined from seat in the dressing room, right outside of the door his brother was changing behind.

"Well you offered to come." Cooper answered, changing into another shirt, which was barely even different from the last one he was wearing.

"Only because I wanted to spend time with you while you were visiting. I forgot how horrible it was to shop with you." Blaine whined again.

"If it's _that _horrible, buy yourself something." Cooper instructed.

"I don't need any clothes." Blaine pouted.

"How's this look?" Cooper asked, stepping out of the changing stall.

"No better and no worse than the last shirt." Blaine sighed.

"Go to the bookstore then." Cooper told him.

Blaine's smile widened almost impossibly and he fixed the carrier bag on his shoulder. "Alright. Have fun! Text me when you're ready to leave!"

Cooper laughed and shook his head. "You're such a geek."

Blaine dismissed Cooper's accusation and nearly ran out of the store. He made his way to the bookstore, which was on the bottom floor of the mall. The store was almost empty and Blaine's stomach twirled with excitement. Almost nothing was better to him than having almost free range of a bookstore. First, he walked over to the table with newly released books. He touched the spines of most of the books, picking up several books and reading the bios. He didn't find anything that really sparked his interest, so he walked down to the 'Classics' section. He looked at a lot of the books, mostly books he's read before, before picking up Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a book he's been meaning to read for a while, and carrying it as he continued down to another isle. After skimming through some romance novels, fantasy novels, and poetry collection isles, he had three other books in his arm.

He finally made his way over to his favourite section of the bookstore, the young adult section. First, he picked up Ellen Hopkins's new books along with a Scott Westerfield book that was lacking from his library before approaching the John Green section of a bookshelf. He put his quite heavy pile of books on the ground as he admired the John Green books. Of course, being a Nerdfighter and a bibliophile, he's read each of John's books at least two times each, but when he was in a bookstore, he always gravitated to John's books whenever he was in a bookstore. At first, he read through different parts of the books. Suddenly, he remembered the post-it notes he had in his bag. Excitedly, he began rustling through his bag, until he found his post-it notes and a pen.

He sat criss-cross-apple sauce on the floor with a few of John's books in his lap and the post-it notes. He began writing on the post-it notes. "_Hi there! If you're reading this book, you may be a Nerdfighter! To find out more, go to Youtube/Vlogbrothers or Nerdfighters . Ning –B.A."_

He wrote about four notes when somebody cleared their throat behind him and said, "Excuse me, sir."

Blaine turned around, covering the post-it notes with his hand. "Oh, hi." He said, a little surprised to see how absolutely beautiful the boy behind him was. Blaine almost didn't care that the boy was an employee and he was possibly about to get in trouble for this.

"Hello. Um, may I ask what you're doing?" Kurt asked softly. He was new to his job and he was the only staff member not working the registers right now. Plus, Blaine was really quite attractive.

Blaine stood up and faced Kurt. "Well, um… it's hard to explain. Do you know what a nerdfighter is?"

"Um… a person who fights nerds?" Kurt asked skeptically.

Blaine started laughing instantly. "No, no, no… Do you know who John Green is?"

Kurt nodded and motioned towards the books that Blaine was holding. "A lot of people buy his books."

Blaine grinned and nodded, "Well, he and his brother make Youtube videos. And they and the people who watch their videos and stuff are called Nerdfighters."

"Oh? That still doesn't explain what you're doing." Kurt chuckled.

"Yeah, of course. Well, I'm writing on post-it notes, telling the person who buys this book that they might be a Nerdfighter and to check out John and Hank's videos and website." Blaine informed Kurt, blushing a little bit.

"Oh. Do you like… get paid for this?" Kurt asked.

"No! Of course not! It's just always nice to bring new people to Nerdfighteria." Blaine smiled.

"Nerdfighteria?"

"Kind of like… the world of Nerdfighters."

"Well this is all very interesting, but I'm not completely sure if this is allowed." Kurt told him, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Yeah, I was afraid you might say that." Blaine laughed a little.

"Well, maybe you could leave in the ones you already wrote…. I mean, I could just pretend that I didn't know you wrote any yet." Kurt smiled softly.

Blaine grinned, "Thank you very much…" he looked down at Kurt's nametag and finished the sentence, "Kurt… I like your name."

Kurt giggled. "You're welcome… I'm not sure of what your name is."

"Blaine." Blaine answered, looking down a little.

"That's a great name." Kurt told him.

"Th-Thank you." Blaine answered as he started to put the books back on the shelf.

"You're welcome." Kurt said cheerily as he helped Blaine restock the shelf. When they were finally done, he smiled back at Blaine. "Can I help you with anything else?"

"No. Thank you. I'm sorry for all of the trouble." Blaine answered.

"Don't be. I actually learned a few new things from you today." Kurt answered.

"Maybe I could tell you more about it." Blaine suggested softly, looking away from Kurt.

"I'd love to hear it." Kurt answered.

"Really?" Blaine asked quickly, sounding more excitedly than he meant to.

"Of course. Maybe… You could give me a call sometime?" Kurt suggested, taking Blaine's pen and post-it notes from the floor, writing his number quickly.

"Wow. Thank you. I'm going to buy this stuff now." He said, looking down at his pile of books.

"Okay. I guess I'll get back to work." Kurt said, chuckling a little.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later." Blaine said, starting to pick his things up.

"Okay. Bye." Kurt said as Blaine started walking away.

Blaine quickly went and paid for his books, ending up with only $0.35 left in his wallet, but he really didn't regret it at all. He called Cooper and found out what store he was in. He nearly ran to his brother and recounted the entire tale to him excitedly and Cooper was quick tease Blaine about his new 'boyfriend' and Blaine could barely protest. These kinds of things didn't happen to Blaine often. Actually, never. His stomach twirled excitedly as he thought of all of the possibilities for the future.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wait, is tonight too soon?" Blaine asked from his brother's bed as Cooper went through his bags of new clothes, reorganizing his closet, which was actually pretty stupid of him, considering he'd just be packing it all up in three days anyway.

"Way too soon, B. Don't be overeager." Cooper instructed, not looking over at Blaine.

"But… I just want to plan when we can hang out." Blaine complained.

"Really, I know about these things. Just listen to me." Cooper said, admiring yet another shirt he bought today.

"Oh you do? When's the last time you dated a girl?" Blaine teased.

"I had one over the other night." Cooper smirked.

"Good for you, but I wasn't asking about the last time you screwed a girl. I asked about when you last dated a girl. I don't want to screw this Kurt. I'm not even sure if I want to date him. I just want to talk to him." Blaine rolled onto his stomach and sighed dejectedly. "This is all just so confusing."

"I can't believe you already like this guy. You don't even know anything about him." Cooper chuckled.

Blaine turned back onto his side so he could look over at his brother, "Do you even know that girl's name that was over your house the other night?"

Cooper just chuckled darkly. The two of them spent the next few hours just talking about nothing in Cooper's room. Then, they had dinner and Blaine showered. By the time he finished, it was only 8 pm. He distracted himself with reading and then video games and by the time he checked the time again, it was too late to even consider calling Kurt.

It took him quite a while after that to fall asleep. The next morning, he was definitely regretting it. He woke up and dressed in his uniform and barely dragged himself to school. Blaine texted Wes and asked for him to buy an extra coffee, and met up with him at school. He thanked his friend and sat with him. It took less than five minutes for him to spill everything about meeting Kurt. Something about this guy made his stomach twirl and made him want to tell the world. Wes had a great deal of fun teasing Blaine, but in the end, advised Blaine to just suck it up and call him tonight and geek out to this Kurt kid as much as he wanted to, since obviously (in Wes's words), 'for whatever reason he's not annoyed by the fact you're a complete nerd.'

Blaine dragged through classes, only pepping up for rehearsal with the Warblers. When he got home, Cooper was on the couch, in his boxers, looking like he hadn't moved all day, watching some lame sort of Judge show on TV.

"The amount that you remind me of Hassan is astounding." Blaine snorted as he put his carrier bag on the floor and walked over to the couch, flopping down next to Cooper.

"Who the hell is Hassan?" Cooper asked

"Oh he's-" Blaine started, but was promptly cut off by Cooper.

"I swear to God, if you tell me he's a character from a damn book, I'm going to slap you."

"Never mind then." Blaine grumbled.

"You're _obsessed _with books, Squirt." Cooper said with a laugh.

"I am not." Blaine mumbled again.

"It's okay, that's what makes you you." Cooper said with a cheesy smile.

Blaine rolled his eyes and elbowed his brother. "Whatever. I'm going to go call Kurt now."

"Ohhhhhhh. Have fun on the phone with your boyfriend." Cooper teased as Blaine already started heading upstairs.

Blaine paced around his room, holding his phone until he finally hit the dial button. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Five rings. Blaine started wondering if that was even normal. Maybe Kurt gave him a fake number that rang more times than a normal phone. And then, in the middle of the sixth ring, a beautiful but confused voice said, "Hello?"

"Hi. Um. Is this Kurt?" Blaine asked, his throat feeling dry and his heart beating loudly.

"Yes it is. May I ask who's calling?" Kurt asked, his voice just sounding even more beautiful than before.

"Um, yeah. It's Blaine. We met at the um bookstore." Blaine managed. Damn! When did he start saying 'um' so much?!

"Blaine! Hi. Yeah, I remember you. The geekfighter!" Kurt chirped happily

"Um. Nerdfighter." Blaine answered. And damn! He said it again!

' "Oh! I'm sorry. Nerdfighter." Kurt laughed a little and Blaine joined. Kurt asked when the laughter began quieting, "So are we still going to get together so you can tell me all about being a Nerdfighter?"

"Well that's why I was calling." Blaine answered, proud that he didn't 'um' once in that sentence.

"Well when are you free?" Kurt asked.

"Um. Well, basically anytime. Um. It doesn't really matter to me. When are you free?" Blaine asked. And there are the 'ums' again!

"Hmmm… Friday evening? We can meet at the Lima Bean. Do you know where that is?" Kurt offered after flipping through his daily calendar.

"Yeah, that's great." Blaine answered, grinning.

"Yeah, it sounds amazing." Kurt told him.

"Yeah." Blaine replied.

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"Oh this is ridiculous." Kurt laughed.

"Yes, it is." Blaine chuckled

"Well maybe I should go then." Kurt offered.

"I guess." Blaine replied.

"Well, you could always text me, I mean if you want." Kurt offered.

"Maybe I will." Blaine said, smiling widely.

"I'll see you Friday." Kurt said before hanging up.

Blaine held the phone to his chest, collapsing happily on his bed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Coop, stop making innuendos and just tell me what you think of the outfit!" Blaine whined at his brother as he backed away from the laptop, letting the camera get a full view of his outfit.

Cooper sighed and decided not to make a joke about his younger brother's impossibly tight pants. "You look great, B. Adorable."

Blaine pouted a little, "But… I don't want him to think of me as just adorable."

"Fine. Hot. Amazing. Like a sex god. How's that?" Cooper asked, chuckling a little.

"Much better." Blaine answered, smirking a little as he fixed his bowtie. "Do you think I need more gel? My hair loo-"

"NO!" Cooper cut his brother off. "Your hair's fine. Don't overwhelm the boy with the scent of strawberry."

"Actually, I ran out of my strawberry gel, it's raspberry now." Blaine answered, touching at his hair.

"Well, whatever. Just, you're fine. What time are you supposed to meet him?" Cooper asked.

"Ten minutes." Blaine answered, looking at his watch.

"Okay, go. Now." Cooper told him.

"Okay. Talk to you later." Blaine answered.

"You better tell me how it goes."

"I will. I promise."

"Be safe. Use a condom. All that shit."

Blaine ended the conversation before allowing himself to laugh at his brother's cliché joke. He grabbed his wallet, keys, phone, and headed toward the door. His stomach twirled with an excited anxiety. Kurt and he texted almost non-stop since they should hang out; almost as much as Tiny Cooper and will grayson in Will Grayson, Will Grayson. This was the closest thing Blaine's ever had to a love life and it felt great. He definitely wasn't afraid of falling now; what he was afraid of was Kurt deciding that Blaine wasn't good enough to actually be with him, or that this would be awkward and uncomfortable and that neither of them would have fun, or that maybe Kurt sees this as only being platonic and Blaine's completely making up the romantic aspect in his mind.

He let his fear get the best of himself until he parked in the lot of the Lima Bean. He decided to take a deep breath and muster up his courage. He walked through the coffee shop and looked around. Kurt wasn't there. Blaine would have freaked out, but he reminded himself that he was early. He sent a text to Kurt.

_I'm here. Want me to get you a drink? –BA_

_ Sorry I'm running a bit late. I'm leaving now. Grande nonfat mocha. Thank you so much! I'll pay you back. –KH_

_ It's okay. I'll see you soon. J -BA_

_ See you. J- KH_

Blaine decided Kurt would be driving soon, so he decided not to answer (not that Kurt would text Blaine back while he was driving. Blaine stood in line and ordered one Grande Nonfat Mocha and one Medium Drip. He paid for both seats and took a seat. Almost as soon as he sat down, Kurt rushed through the door, looking around. He looked beautiful. He had a blue button up shirt underneath a designer-looking dark gray vest and skin-tight jeans that matched. As Blaine took in the view, he stood up and waved a little, smiling in Kurt's direction.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! My friend, Rachel, was having a bit of a fashion emergency. She kept me on the phone asking me about outfits until I was nearly yelling at her to let me go." Kurt told Blaine as he started sitting down, not even bothering with a real greeting.

Blaine laughed, "Well was the crisis averted?"

"Kurt Hummel was involved. Of course it was." Kurt answered with pride.

"Of course. I shouldn't have ever doubted you." Blain answered.

"No. You shouldn't have." Kurt said.

"I hope you can forgive my moment of incompetence."

"I think I can."

And they both laughed. Blaine's fear melted away. He and Kurt were getting along perfectly naturally. Although it still might be completely platonic, that's something that Blaine wouldn't mind all that much.

"So you owe me an explanation." Kurt said.

"Um… About what?" Blaine asked nervously.

Kurt chuckled, "This whole Nerdfighter thing. You told me you'd tell me about it."

"Ohhh yeah." Blaine chuckled a little and took a sip of his coffee. "Well…umm… I don't know where to start. So, there's this author, John Green. He has a brother, Hank. They um do Youtube videos together. Well, usually not together they alternate days. And.. um they started in 2007 and they still make them. They have a popular following and those people are called Nerdfighters. Nerdfighters are people who are made of Awesome instead of organs and stuff and they work to decrease world suck."

"Sounds… interesting." Kurt let out a bit of a laugh.

"It's much better if you watch the videos. Also, the more other Nerdfighters you meet, the better it is." Blaine told him.

"No, I didn't mean it in a bad way. It genuinely sounds interesting." Kurt smiled softly. "Maybe I should watch some of their videos."

"They're _great_." Blaine told him.

"Funny?" Kurt asked.

"Hilarious." Blaine answered.

"And how are John Green's books?" Kurt asked.

"Amazing! I've read them all. Most of them more than once! They're so, so, so good." Blaine told him.

"Maybe I'll read one of them… Which one's your favourite?" Kurt asked.

"Oh gosh. Don't ask me that. I simply can't choose. Looking for Alaska was the first one I read, so I usually recommend for people to start on that, but all of them are amazing. You should just read any of them. Or all of them." Blaine said excitedly, not tripping over his words at all.

"I definitely will." Kurt assured him.

"When you do, tell me what you think about it! Or just text me the whole time you're reading it about your thoughts." Blaine requested.

"I like this." Kurt said softly.

"Like what?" Blaine asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"You talking about things that get you all excited. It's nice to watch. You don't stutter or say um or run out of things to say. It's like you could talk about it all day." Kurt informed him.

Blaine blushed, "Oh. Well, um, I just get really passionate I guess, but… thank you."

Kurt chuckled, "I wasn't trying to embarrass you, but you're welcome."

"I like this too." Blaine said.

"Like what?" Kurt asked.

"Talking to you." Blaine answered, not looking at Kurt.

"Me too." Kurt answered, smiling warmly.

"So you know what I'm passionate about. What are you passionate about?" Blaine asked, consciously calming him down so he spoke without the um's and any stuttering.

"Singing. And dancing. And performing. And Broadway. And fashion." Kurt told him.

"I should have figured most of that stuff, seeing as how you talk about your Glee club all the time. Plus, I can just look at you and know you're passionate about fashion." Blaine answered, still speaking slowly.

"Thank you." Kurt said with a bit of a blush. "You're in your school's Glee club too, right?"

"Yeah, The Warblers." Blaine told him with a nod.

"You guys are great." Kurt said.

"Oh thank you, but The New Direction are no joke either." Blaine answered.

Kurt chuckled, "Well, thank you."

"Do you think you're going to go school for performing then? Or are you leaning more toward fashion?" Blaine asked.

"Performance, for sure." Kurt told him. "Somewhere in New York. I'm not sure where though."

"That's amazing." Blaine said contentedly.

"Thank you. What about you?" Kurt asked.

"Um.. I don't know for sure. I know I want to get out of Ohio, but um I'm really not sure I want to major in. But I'm a Junior, so um I really just have to know by the end of this year." Blaine told him, getting a little flustered, as he always did when thinking about the future.

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle a little, "It's nothing to stress over."

"I guess you're right." Blaine smiled across the table at Kurt.

"I am." Kurt smirked a little.

"Oh you are?" Blaine chuckled a little.

"Always." Kurt answered.

"Always." Bliane nodded.

"So, do you like all books, or just John Green?" Kurt asked.

"All. Oh my gosh. I don't remember the last time I read a book I disliked. I love books. I love everything about them. John Green's one of my favouirte authors, but so is JK Rowling, oh and I love David Levithan and Stephen King. Poe's amazing. Oh and F. Scott Fitzgerald is a genius." Blaine blabbered before realizing that he was probably talking at a speed that was impossible to understand. "Oh my gosh. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I told you I like this." Kurt told him.

"Well, I get really into talking about books. You should see how many I have. I call it my Life Library… for reasons. You'd understand better if you read John Green's books." Blaine told him, blushing a little at how much he was allowing himself to get into it.

"Well that's amazing. I wish I read more, I just feel like I have no time." Kurt told him.

"I force myself to have time." Blaine laughed again.

And then his phone went off. He would have ignored it, but it was his dad. His dad was away at work, but apparently he came home early and Blaine hadn't finished cleaning the living room, which his dad told him to do sometimes last week. After a short conversation, Blaine sighed and hung up. He looked at Kurt apologetically, "I'm sorry. That was my dad. I have to go now."

"That's fine." Kurt said, sounding more chipper than he felt.

"Thank you for understanding… Maybe we can do this again sometime?" Blaine offered.

"I'd love to." Kurt answered, smiling.

Blaine stood up and Kurt stood up as well. Blaine waved slightly to Kurt and Kurt waved back as Blaine walked to his car. The whole way home he was thinking of how he should have at least hinted at Kurt that he was interested in him as more than a friend, but that could have ruined everything, so maybe it's a good thing that he didn't. He went home, did his chores, finished his homework, texted Cooper about what happened, but no matter what he did, the butterflies in his stomach wouldn't calm down; he couldn't stop thinking about Kurt.


	4. Chapter 4

After their first coffee (non) date, Blaine and Kurt were texting almost non-stop. Kurt was busy with school, Glee, and club, but he'd been spending a lot of his free time watching Vlogbrother videos and live-texting Blaine about them. Whenever something particularly funny, cute, or interesting was said, he would text Blaine the exact line, and Blaine would do his best to remember which video it came from. Less than a week after getting together, Kurt had started and finished Looking for Alaska. He yelled at Blaine for breaking his heart; claiming that he'd never been so hurt in his entire life.

But they stopped talking about just Nerdfighter things. Blaine texted Kurt every quote that he read and fell in love with instantly and since Kurt spent a lot more time listening to music than reading, he texted Blaine quotes from the music he was listening to. When Kurt quoted a line from a musical that Blaine happened to love, they fell into a conversation about musical theatre. Kurt told Blaine that it was his dream to perform on Broadway and Blaine told Kurt that he would love to be involved with theatre, either performing or writing.

Despite the frequency of their texting, Blaine got butterflies in his stomach every time Kurt texted him; when he checked his phone to find no texts or only texts from other people, he was slightly disappointed, not that that was a frequent occurrence. He had to continuously remind himself that he and Kurt were friends. It hurt to remind himself that he and Kurt were nothing more than friends, but he knew it would hurt if he let himself bring his hopes up just to get let down. He knew there was no way that somebody like Kurt would want him. Kurt was so beautiful and funny and seemed so confident, Blaine was nothing impressive, the only time he could ever really impress was when he was performing or writing; otherwise, he was actually quite lame.

After about a week and a half of both purposeful and purposeless texting, Kurt texted Blaine insisting that they hang out the upcoming weekend. He had apparently just finished The Fault in Our Stars and they needed to discuss exactly why Blaine was ruining Kurt's life. Blaine agreed that this is something they might want to discuss in person. So, they made plans to go out for coffee again on Sunday afternoon.

The rest of the week dragged on. All of the texts from Kurt didn't even speed the days up; actually, they just seemed to prolong them. Luckily, Blaine had been on good terms with his dad that week, so sneaking away to hang out with a non-Dalton guy friend at a coffee shop wasn't much of an issue, although on bad days, it would be a huge issue. When Sunday finally came, Blaine called Cooper on Skype again and asked for fashion advice. After trying on several outfits for his brother, he went with a simple white collared shirt, a red bow tie, and matching pants. His shoes were black and what he called _shnazzy, _which got a huge laugh from his big brother.

Excitedly, Blaine hopped out of his house and got into his car. He drove safely, but quickly, to the same coffee shop that he and Kurt had talked at before. He was nervous that he'd be there too early again, but when walked inside, he saw Kurt, sitting at a table, with two coffees in front of him. Kurt was sipping his drink and flipping through an issue of vogue.

"Is that the new issue?" Blaine asked, grinning, as he took a seat across from Kurt.

"Of course. Have you seen it yet?" Kurt asked, glancing up to acknowledge Blaine.

"I have not. I don't have a subscription so-" Blaine started.

"You poor soul! The stuff in here is _genius."_ He placed the magazine down between two of them. "Just look at this!" he pointed to a rather fashion forward outfit that Blaine could appreciate, although he couldn't quite understand it. Blaine laughed and the two of them flipped through a couple more pages, the only sounds between them was laughter and gasps of amazement.

That is, until Blaine took a sip of his coffee. "Medium Drip! You remembered!" he nearly squealed, blushing almost immediately.

"Yes, I did… That's not weird, is it?" Kurt asked, smiling as he closed the magazine.

"No! It's um… sweet." Blaine answered, smiling softly.

"Okay, good. I don't want to seem creepy." Kurt laughed.

"Not at all." Blaine reassured, laughing alone.

"So now we have a few things to discuss…" Kurt said, suddenly seeming very serious.

"I'm not sure if I want to…" Blaine said. "I'm having such a um nice time. I don't think I can deal with thinking about th-that book."

Kurt laughed and rolled his eyes. "Well then we got together for no good reason."

"S-seeing you is." Blaine answered shyly, looking away from Kurt.

"Is what?" Kurt asked.

"Um a good reason." Blaine told him.

"Thank you." Kurt replied, grinning almost from ear to ear.

"You're welcome, Kurt." Blaine said, looking hesitantly back up at Kurt, smiling when he saw Kurt's large smile

"Fine, if we're not going to talk about the book, can we at least talk about their videos?" Kurt asked.

"You want to?" Blaine asked, feeling hopeful.

"Of course! One thing I want to know is, why the hell is the quality of their videos so horrible? It's like they have the shittiest cameras available!" Kurt nearly shrieked.

"Oh you must be watching the um old videos, right? Well, um, they get a lot better. I promise. Their old cameras were bad." Blaine assured him.

"They better. I don't even care about camera work, but I don't know if I can sit through many move videos filmed like that! Although, some of their humour definitely makes it worth it." Kurt told Blaine.

"They definitely are." Blaine nodded, smiling a bit.

"I don't even know how two human beings can be that funny!" Kurt said excitedly.

"I know, it's a mystery." Blaine laughed a little.

Kurt was about to reply when Blaine's phone went off. It was a text from his dad. He was supposed to be home soon. There was no real reason, but Blaine's dad rarely had a reason for things and Blaine knew better than to not listen to him.

"Um… I'm so sorry. I, uh, I have to go." Blaine told him, as he read the text.

"Don't worry about it! This was nice! We have to try to do it another time; maybe for longer next time." Kurt answered excitedly.

"I'd love to." Blaine said softly, standing up.

Kurt stood up as well, stepping close to Blaine to give him a hug. Kurt pulled away first, but Blaine swore he felt reluctance in it. He spoke softly as he pulled out of the hug. "Bye Blaine. Text me when you get home."

"I will. Bye, Kurt." Blaine answered just as softly.

He turned around, and before he knew it, he was home. He spent the rest of the evening picking up books and losing interest in them, looking at his school work and realizing how little he cared, and altogether just sulking in his room. Texts from Kurt definitely made the night slightly better, but all he could think about was that beautifully tight hug, the one that made him wish Kurt would remain that close to him forever. Blaine had tried to force himself to think that Kurt was only being nice to him as a friend, that there was no flirting in his tone nor was their anything to the hug, it was just a friendly hug that Blaine shouldn't read into. Unfortunately, Blaine couldn't help but read more into everything. He couldn't stop daydreaming, imagining what'd be like to actually be more than friends with Kurt, or at the very least, to see him more often. Yeah, just that much would be nice.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Blaine was driving home from Glee club, when his phone started ringing. He answered, using the Bluetooth in his car, without knowing who was calling, to hear somebody either laughing or crying hysterically on the other line. Blaine was obviously extremely concerned, "Hello? Can you hear me? Who is this?"

"I… Oh god… Black Santas…" Said the voice on the other line; Blaine now knew that it was Kurt.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kurt took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I just… It's not even _that _funny, but I started Paper Towns earlier today and I just got to the part of Black Santas and I keep imagine a house filled with them and I can't stop laughing." And then Kurt started laughing again.

"Is that a-all?" Blaine asked, chuckling as well.

"Well yeah, I just… Thank you so much for introducing me to John Green." Kurt told him, taking slower breaths now.

"Of c-course. You seemed awesome enough to be a Nerdfighter." Blaine told him, laughing.

"God, that made my day." Kurt sighed happily. "So what're you up to?"

"M-me? Driving home from school." Blaine told him.

"Do you want me to hang up?" Kurt asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"No, I've um got Bluetooth." Blaine assured him.

"Okay, great. Were you at school this late?" Kurt asked.

"Well, I had Glee practice." Blaine told him.

"Oh nice. How was it?" Kurt asked.

"Great." Blaine smiled a little more.

"Very nice." Kurt sounded genuine.

"Yeah." Blaine said, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah." Kurt answered quietly.

"Yeah." Blaine repeated. And then Kurt began laughing, so Blaine said, "What's so f-funny?"

"Just… Don't kill me for the feels, okay?" Kurt warned before saying, "Maybe 'yeah' can be our always."

Blaine's stomach twisted in a knot. Had Kurt just implied…? No, he didn't mean it that way. He was just pointing out that they had nothing to say to one another; there was no way that Kurt meant… Did Kurt…? No. No. No. Blaine refused to get his hopes up. That'd just be stupid. So, Blaine let out a whine, "Kurtttt. The f-feeeels."

Kurt laughed, "I know, it hurts. I shouldn't have, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity."

_To compare us to one of the greatest young-adult fiction love story of the year? _Blaine wanted to ask, but he didn't. He just said, "No, um I don't blame you."

"Well, I'll let you get back to driving, I'll get back to reading." Kurt said after a moment of silence.

"Bye, Kurt." Blaine said, sort of sadly.

"Wait! When's the next day you're free?" Kurt asked.

"Tomorrow afternoon?" Blaine offered.

"I have work." Kurt sighed. "How about Tuesday?"

"I um have Glee until 4. But I can um probably go out after th-that, I just have to check with my dad." Blaine told him, feeling extremely nervous; what did Kurt mean by all of this?

"Okay, cool. We can text details?" Kurt asked.

"Sounds great." Blaine answered with a smile.

"But only when you're done driving." Kurt warned, slightly teasingly.

"Yeah, I know." Blaine chuckled.

"Bye Blaine." Kurt said, and then the speakers of Blaine's car began playing a dial tone. He sighed and pressed a button on his radio so that his Hank Green CD would continue playing.

They texted about details of hanging out, and then about Paper Towns, and then about one another's days, and then about basically nothing. It was nice. Blaine loved texting Kurt until he fell asleep, he loved waking up with texts from Kurt, he loved texting Kurt in between classes; it sort of felt like Kurt was always there with him, even if just as a friend.

Wednesday came almost as slowly as Sunday did. It was torture for Blaine. Every class was prolonged and it seemed like his dad was ruder than ever. Still, Kurt was his inspiration not to cause anything and to continue to do well in school; he knew that he'd be seeing Kurt in _ amount of hours.

Wednesday afternoon finally came around. Blaine drove straight from Dalton to the coffee shop, so he didn't have time to change out of his uniform; Kurt knew where he went to school, but he'd never seen Blaine's uniform and that made Blaine a little nervous for some reason. No matter the anxiety over his uniform, Blaine was just altogether more nervous than previously. He was dying to figure out a way to tell Kurt how he felt, but he knew it was just absolutely ridiculous; he didn't want to risk his new friendship over this.

Blaine got out of the car and walked into the coffee shop. He scanned the room for Kurt, but he wasn't there yet, so he got in line. Almost as soon as he got in line, the door opened and Kurt was walking in. Blaine smiled and waved over to Kurt, and Kurt grinned and bounced over to Blaine. "Is that your uniform?"

"Y-yeah." Blaine answered shyly.

"Wow. I actually love it! You can really rock a blazer, Blaine." Kurt told him, chuckling a bit.

Blaine was blushing, but he brought his eyes to meet Kurt's as he quietly said, "Thank you. You look good too."

Kurt seemed slightly flustered and looked down at his outfit, "Aw. Thank you, Blaine. So how was your day?"

"Um pretty boring and slow. Even Warblers pr-practice dragged." Blaine informed him.

Kurt gave him a sympathetic frown. "Sorry to hear that."

Blaine shrugged, "How was yours?"

Kurt kind of gave Blaine a sad look, "I don't really feel like talking about it."

"Um are you sure?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah." Kurt said shortly, not exactly with a mean tone of voice, just a definite one.

Blaine nodded and the line moved up, the two of them were now up to order. Kurt was the first one to speak, he ordered both of their usuals, he glanced over at Blaine when he started to say Medium Drip and Blaine just nodded with a smile. The two of them sat down and started drinking their coffee, talking mostly about Blaine's day at school.

"You know, Kurt, if y-you want to talk about whatever's um bothering you, I d-don't mind." Blaine finally said softly.

Kurt smiled a little, "Thank you, that's really sweet Blaine, but I'm afraid you won't really understand." Kurt saw Blaine's hurt face and quickly fixed his answer, "No, no, no. Not like that. It has nothing to do with you… I just… Nevermind. It's stupid. I'm stupid. I'm sorry."

"No, you're not stupid." Blaine said, making a mental note to be proud of the lack of hesitance in that sentence, no ums and no stuttering, that's progress.

Kurt smiled a little, "Thank you. I just… It sounds so stupid. I guess it's about getting bullied at school. It's been getting progressively worse."

"The bullying?" Blaine asked.

Kurt nodded.

"H-how would I not understand that?" Blaine asked.

"I don't know. You've never talked to me about being bullied before…" Kurt said.

"Neither have you." Blaine pointed out.

Kurt nodded again. "Point taken."

"Well, I'm not bullied anymore, Dalton has a um no tolerance policy, but… b-before I came to Dalton, there was a S-Sadie Hawkins Dance… I j-just came out and there was one other openly g-gay kid in school. H-he was my friend, so I asked him as a friend d-date. We waited f-for his d-dad to pick us up and… we got the l-living crap beat out of us." Blaine admitted, not breaking eye contact from Kurt as he spoke. He felt the stuttering get worse as he told the story, as it usually did when he got upset over something, but he felt like it was important for Kurt to hear.

"Really?" Kurt asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, and n-nobody cared. M-my family did, actually, mostly m-my brother. H-his family cared, b-but that's all. So, I c-came to Dalton." Blaine finished, smiling a little.

"I feel like nobody cares." Kurt admitted.

"Have you um told the school yet?" Blaine asked.

"Yes, they're not helping." Kurt sighed.

"Y-your dad?" Blaine asked.

"He doesn't know how bad it is." Kurt answered truthfully.

"M-maybe you should tell him." Blaine suggested.

"I don't know. I just… I don't want to cause any trouble." Kurt told him.

"I think you should." Blaine said confidently.

"Maybe I will." Kurt answered. He brought his hand from his lap to touch Blaine's hand, which was sitting on the table. "Thank you so much, Blaine."

"Anytime, Kurt." Blaine smiled.

"You're such a good friend." Kurt grinned and took another sip of his coffee.

And there it was. Friend. Good friend. Nothing more. Blaine knew it. It's not like he was only helping Kurt to try to get with him and he genuinely did want to be a good friend who gave helpful advice, but he still wanted to be more, and he felt like he couldn't stop thinking about it. It was impossible to have Kurt's hand touching his, their eyes locked, and their knees bumping beneath the table, and not think of Kurt in that way.

They sat there and talked for another half hour or so. They were both reluctant to leave, but time had slipped past them; they both had homework and curfews and plans to go to sleep early for school the next morning (although they both knew that wouldn't happen). Again, they texted all night. If this was the best Blaine could get, he could learn to live with it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Short Chapter because I'm an asshole! I will definitely try to update soon about what happens right after this! I'm glad people are responding well to this. See? I'm so glad that I even did an Author's note type thing! Seriously though, I appreciate it. :3**

The next day, they were having a normal texting conversation when Kurt sent something surprised Blaine, in a good way.

_I think I'm going to tell my dad tonight. –KH_

_ Really? Good for you! Why the change of heart? –BA_

_ Well you kind of inspired me the other day, I guess. –KH_

_ I inspired you? –BA_

_ Of course you did. Your story made me feel less alone. You gave me courage to do what I'm getting ready to do. –KH_

_ Well I'm glad. I think it will help. –BA_

_ Me too. At least, I hope so. He actually just got home. I'm going to talk to him! –KH_

_ Good luck! –BA_

_ Oh and Kurt? Remember to have COURAGE. –BA_

_ Thank you. –KH_

_ Of course. –BA_

Blaine didn't get a reply from Kurt for a few hours.

_Sorry about that. Long conversation. Then dinner. And then more talking. –KH_

_ And? –BA_

_ I cried for the majority of it. I have the best dad ever. –KH_

_ So it went well? –BA_

_ Wow, Blaine. Amazingly. He really is the best. He's coming to my school after classes end tomorrow to talk to the principal and stuff. I'm pretty nervous, but I guess it's a step in the right direction. –KH_

_ It definitely is. Nothing to be nervous about. You're doing the right thing and the best thing for you. –BA_

_ I'm still scared. –KH_

_ 'Maybe there's something you're afraid to say, or someone you're afraid to love, or somewhere you're afraid to go. It's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt because it matters.' –John Green –BA_

_ Just ignore the love part. –BA_

_ You give good advice, Blaine Anderson. –KH_

_ Why, thank you, Kurt Hummel. –BA_

_ So when can I see you next? I want to properly thank you for giving me the courage to do this. –KH_

_ Well you have that meeting with the principal tomorrow, and I have rehearsal for quite a long time on Wednesday, but it ends early-ish on Thursday. Maybe we can hang out then? –BA_

_ I have off work and get done with the New Directions at normal time! –KH_

_ So it's a plan? –BA_

_ Well we only have the day figured out. Where do you want to meet? –KH_

_ I was figuring the coffee shop? –BA_

_ You could come over my house if you wanted to. –KH_

_ Really? That'd be nice. Change of scenery. –BA_

_ Exactly. –KH_

_ I'd love to, Kurt. J -BA_

_ Good. I can't wait to have you over! –KH _

_ And I'm sorry, I'll text you when I'm done, but after all of that talking and crying, I need to do some serious moisturizing and homework to do. –KH_

_ Best of luck to you. –BA_

_ Thank you. –KH_

_ Best wishes. –BA_

_ Blaine… who says best wishes? –KH_

_ It's a Nerdfighter thing. –BA_

_ Oh, well in that case… DFTBA :P –KH_

Blaine chuckled a bit and held his phone close to his heart. Did that mean that Kurt wanted to hang out as more than friends? That's what it seemed like. When he called Cooper and told him, Cooper made him read the entire conversation out loud, after which he basically told Blaine that he was going to get some on Thursday afternoon. Blaine rolled his eyes and laughed, but he couldn't stop thinking that maybe Kurt did want to be more than a friend to him. He wanted that so badly himself that he couldn't get his hopes up; if he thought Kurt wanted that, but Kurt just wanted to be friends, he'd be utterly crushed. He had to keep his cool. He'd find out in a few days what Kurt wanted.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi guise! This is another pretty short chapter, but I think it's quite enjoyable! Thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favourites! It means so much to me! :3 **

The time until Thursday went surprisingly quick. Blaine bolted out of Warblers practice and texted Kurt that he was on his way. Kurt had already given him his address and pretty solid directions the day prior. The school suspended the boy who had been bullying Kurt horrendously, but only after his dad had a bit of a talk with them. Kurt was still apprehensive, considering Karofsky would be back in school next week, and he'd probably be even angrier at Kurt for getting him in trouble.

Nonetheless, Blaine continued to try to calm Kurt and tell him he did the right thing. Of course, they texted almost non-stop. Blaine was both anxious and over-excited about going over to Kurt's house. He had to keep reminding himself that he and Kurt were just friends and there was no grantee that they'd ever be more.

Blaine got to Kurt's house and hopped to the door, ringing the doorbell. He was a little surprised when Burt answered the door, but he smiled anyway.

"Come in, son." Burt said, smiling a little.

"H-hello, Mr. Hummel?" Blaine said it more like a question than a greeting.

"Hello. You're Kurt's friend, Blaine?" He asked.

"Y-yeah. I am." Blaine said with a soft smile.

And Kurt was already running down the stairs from his room. He sighed when his dad was staring the other boy up and down. "Dad! I could have gotten the door."

"But I didn't want to leave him waiting." Burt said.

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly and smiled at Blaine. "Hey, you."

"Hi." Blaine said softly.

"Let's go up to my room." Kurt said.

Burt looked at the boys, gave Kurt a bit of a warning look, but nodded just enough for Kurt to know he had his permission. Kurt smiled at Blaine and gently took him by the hand to lead him to the bedroom. Kurt sat them down on the bed and smiled softly; he patted on the bed next to him and Blaine sat down beside him, a bit timidly.

"So I need to thank you." Kurt said, smiling sweetly.

"N-no need to." Blaine answered, smiling back.

"Well I feel the need. So, thank you." Kurt said softly. Blaine chuckled a bit and Kurt shook his head, "No, I'm serious. I don't know what it would have taken me for me to tell my dad, but it would have gotten a lot worse before I told him if it weren't for you. I'm really thankful that you gave me that courage."

Blaine was blushing slightly but smiling. "You're w-welcome."

"It meant a lot." Kurt said, sitting just a bit closer to Blaine on the bed.

"It's the l-least I could d-o." Blaine answered, looking away again.

Kurt bit his lip gently. "It's not like you owe me anything."

"B-but, Kurt, I do. You're so nice to m-me and I'm not used to that." Blaine told him.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked softly.

"I… I just… I'm d-different. People love to remind me." Blaine said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I st-stutter a lot…. Obviously, and I'm gay a-and I'm bad at talking to p-people." Blaine answered nervously.

"You're great at talking to people." Kurt said, smiling softly.

"N-no, I'm horrible. Just you." Blaine said.

"Why just me?"

"B-because you make me f-feel comfortable." Blaine admitted.

"Really?" Kurt asked, feeling flattered.

Blaine nodded.

And then Kurt leaned forward to kiss Blaine gently. They both closed their eyes and time stood still. The kiss felt like it lasted forever, but it was an exquisitely short kiss. Still, it was nothing less than what either of them had dreamed of. They both pulled away from the kiss, almost awkwardly.

"Sorry." Kurt said before Blaine had a chance to say anything.

Blaine shook his head, smiling a little. "D-don't be. It was g-great."

"Really?" Kurt asked, smiling again.

"Perfect." Blaine answered.

"Yeah it was."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

And then, instead of returning the 'yeah' again, Blaine leaned forward and kissed Kurt a second time. This time it lasted a bit longer. Blaine brought his hand up to cup Kurt's cheek. Their eyes both closed and time stood still again. Both of their mouths fell open just very slightly. They pulled away a lot more slowly this time, both of them with flushed cheeks and smiles.

"That was nice." Kurt said breathily.

"It really was." Blaine answered.

There was a moment of pause before Kurt spoke again, "I have a question, but it's really rude."

"It's okay. G-go ahead." Blaine said, feeling a little nervous.

"Can you tell me why you stutter sometimes but not others? Like, the first time we met, you barely stuttered, and when you talk about certain things, you don't. I mean, if you don't want to answer, it's okay, but I'm just wondering." Kurt asked, feeling slightly ashamed for asking. He even looked ashamed as he added, "I didn't really realize how rude that sounded. Don't answer."

Blaine smiled softly and shook his head, "N-no, it's okay. I stutter when I'm n-nervous. So, when I'm around a p-person that makes me nervous it h-happens. But if I'm r-really into what I'm saying, it doesn't happen at all."

"I make you nervous?" Kurt asked, smiling.

Blaine nodded a little. "You d-didn't at first. B-but the more I got to know you… Y-yeah. You make me nervous."

Kurt chuckled a little. "That's flattering. Well you make me nervous too. Not like stutter nervous, but like butterflies nervous."

"I g-give you butterflies?" Blaine asked, looking back at Kurt with a shy smile.

"You do." Kurt answered softly, before leaning in to kiss Blaine again.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I know I'm the biggest asshole ever. I haven't updated in like 2 months and I give you this short chapter. Sorry!**

Blaine was too afraid to bring up the kiss afterwards and Kurt hadn't said anything. When they finished kissing, they went straight to watching Vlogbrother videos and laughing- only stopping when Kurt needed Blaine to explain a joke that didn't quite click for him. They continued texting non-stop and talking like nothing had changed.

But something had changed. They kissed. Kissed! Kurt probably didn't know, but that was Blaine's first kiss. Blaine figured that Kurt had kissed plenty of guys. Just one look at him and you can tell that he probably has plenty of suitors. He probably just felt bad for Blaine, right?

Well, Blaine kept this a secret for about a week, not sure what he should do. He tried to figure it out. Part of him wanted to follow the advice John Green always gives in these situations, "Use your words," but he never realized how absolutely hard that was. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with Kurt and he didn't want to seem pathetic. Finally, he folded and called Cooper.

"What's up, Squirt?" Cooper asked when he heard Blaine's hello. From one word, Cooper could tell something was wrong with his little brother.

"Coop," he sighed. "He kissed me."  
"That Kurt kid?" Cooper asked, smile evident in his voice.

"Yeah." Blaine answered softly.

"Then why do you sound like something bad happened? Damn, Blainers, you got your first kiss!" Cooper cheered.

Blaine felt himself bushing as he answered, "Because we're still just friends."

"Well yeah," Cooper said softly, "Kisses don't automatically make things official. Do you want to be more than friends with him?"

"Of course," Blaine said softly. "But he's so perfect. I could never be with him."

"Why not? You're quite a prize yourself." Cooper told him.

Blaine laughed, "Shut up."

"No really. He'd be lucky to be with you." Cooper said seriously.

"Thank you." Blaine said softly.

"I don't' know what to tell you. Talk to him. Maybe do something romantic if he's into that kind of stuff."

"Like what?" Blaine asked, biting his lip.

"I don't know. Sing. Everybody likes your voice."

Blaine laughed again, "Isn't that kind of cliché?"

"Yeah, but just because it's cliché doesn't mean he'll dislike it." His big brother answered.

"Maybe. I'll think about it." Blaine sighed.

"You'll be fine. Just go with what feels right." Cooper advised.

"I'm going to go now." Blaine said softly.

"Okay. Love you, B. Let me know how it turns out."  
"I will. I promise. Love you too. Bye." Blaine said before hanging up the phone.

He layed on his bed and brought his laptop with him. After three straight episodes of Doctor Who without moving a muscle, he sat straight up, nearly throwing his laptop from his lap when the idea struck him. He thought of the perfect, most romantic way to tell Kurt that he liked him. He exited out of Netflix and started searching for chords as he got his guitar out. There was no way Kurt could reject him after this. It was perfect.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This is short and sweet, but it's the end. It's been a pleasure writing this story and I've really appreciated all of the feedback along the way! :3 It's nice to know there are so many Nerdfighters who also ship Klaine. That's pretty awesome of you. Well, thank you again and I hope you enjoy. Best wishes 3**

The first thing Blaine needed was approval from Kurt's boss. The second thing he needed to do was to talk to the manager of the small café, which was in the corner at the far end of the book store. And the last thing he needed was to practice the song so much that he could play and sing it in front of a crowd without causing a full on anxiety attack. And that's what he did. When the date that he worked out with Kurt's boss finally rolled around, he was ready.

He got to the book store before Kurt's shift started and went straight to the coffee shop. With him, he had a guitar and a bouquet of flowers. And, of course, all of the nerves he could gather. His stomach wouldn't stop flipping as he made his way to the small impromptu stage that was only set up for local musicians, poets, and speakers on special occasions. He waited for his cue. When he heard Kurt's name being called over loudspeaker to please report to the café, he sat down in the chair, preparing his fingers. Finally, he saw a confused Kurt, looking around the café for whoever he was supposed to be meeting. He didn't even notice Blaine on the stage.

Blaine started strumming the guitar softly, singing with a sweet, gentle voice, "I've seen your videos and I think they're so jokes. And now we're getting flirty with a couple Facebook pokes…"

Kurt's head slowly moved to the stage, smile growing widely as he realized that it was in fact Blaine's voice singing. His smile grew wider as the song continued it and he recognized from his explorations of Nerdfighteria with Blaine. Part of him thought he was still supposed to actually be doing something work-related, but he couldn't even care right now. He just wanted to watch Blaine and listen to his beautiful voice.

When the song ended, Blaine cleared his throat and leaned into the microphone, speaking slowly and pointedly, "So Kurt, will you be in Nerdfighterlike with me?"

Kurt's hands flew to his mouth in excitement and he nodded eagerly. He didn't even check to see if there was animosity from the crowd around them. But surprisingly enough, there was none. Even in LimaOhio, people could appreciate a display of young love such as this.

Blaine gently put his guitar down, picked up the flowers, and walked off stage towards Kurt. He held the flowers out and spoke softly, just to Kurt. He didn't feel the need to talk slow or concentrate on getting his words out perfectly, he just spoke as he always did to Kurt, "W-will you be my b-boyfriend?"

Kurt giggled a little, took the flowers from Blaine's hand, and wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck, pulling him in for a close hug. After a few happy, but silent moments, he answered, "Of course. Of course I will."

Blaine laughed as he pulled away from Kurt. He gave him a quick, soft kiss on the cheek, feeling himself blush almost immediately afterwards. He bit his lip before speaking, "Y-you should get b-back to work."

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly, but dropped his hands. "Okay. I will. Maybe I'll come over after my shift's over?"

Blaine nodded, smiling softly. "Perfect."

Reluctantly, Kurt started walking away. Blaine watched him leave as he started to pack up his guitar, his thoughts wandering as he absent-mindedly thanked people for their compliments. He just couldn't believe how well that went. He performed. In front of people. And kissed a boy on the cheek. In front of people. He'd never even imagined himself doing anything like either of those, but somehow, Kurt gave him that courage. Kurt made him feel stronger and more confident and more sure of himself. Blaine felt that maybe he helped Kurt in some ways as well. And that's what made him think that they had a chance. That maybe, even though they're young and truly don't know each other _that _well, they might work.


End file.
